Missy ties for most golds at World Swimming Championships

Laurence Masters

NBC on Yahoo! SportsAugust 3, 2013

The next to last day of the world swimming championships belonged to a familiar name. Missy Franklin, 18, cruised to victory in her signature event, the 200-meter backstroke, in 2 minutes, 4.76 seconds. It marked her fifth gold of the meet, matching the record for most golds by a woman at a single world championships.

She could break that mark in her final event, the medley relay, on Sunday. If she wins a medal of any kind Sunday, she’ll tie the record for most medals won by a woman at a single worlds, currently shared by East German Kristin Otto and Americans Shirley Babashoff and Tracy Caulkins. Otto also won six golds at the 1988 Olympics.

Franklin’s coolest prize might have been a soccer jersey (No. 2016) given to her by Brazilians after her victory.